Roller Drama

I thought the 'visual novel' part of the game was good, personally, I think the panels look amazing, but there are some other gameplay elements that have the potential to be frustrating, mainly because it's easy to reset the chapters with an 'honest mistake'. Sometimes it got so confusing I replayed the same part up to 5 times, just because it was not clear where I had to stand, or picked the wrong dialogue choice. Now, I don't care what anyone thinks of the themes in this game, I take games for what they are - I just saw a game with nice art and some creative ideas, so I wanted to try it.
The game is around 3 to 5 hours, it kinda depends because there are silly things that could make it longer than it should be. Strangely I felt like I got the bad ending, but the achievements say 13/14, and apparently, I got the good one, so I am not sure if I missed anything or if the ending to this game is actually anticlimactic, I can't say that it had a good closure. It does have a little bit of replay value with the character events, it looks like they don't have the achievements for all of the optional things that you can do, I would highly recommend going back and adding those because it's not clear how much you actually missed.
For better or worse, I have a surprising amount of experience with visual novels despite not being a huge fan of the genre, but this game avoids a lot of the things that I hate about these games. First of all, I like that this game does not follow the generic 'slide show' format, for me a good visual novel is a playful and interactive experience, not a wall of serviceable narrative. Most of the panels in this game are shown with a unique perspective, and it really helps that just about every location is given character-specific details, I mean in general, the game just looks very good. I thought the chemistry between the characters was infectious, everyone is kinda funky, and if you don't mind the themes I think the narrative is enjoyable enough.
Ahh, yes, the "Roller Derby" minigame. To give you a short answer, I thought it was unpredictable with the AI, and yes you can win on average if you know what you doing, but sometimes it does not work as you expect. It's not very complicated, the game pretty much plays itself, you just have to press the correct action at the appropriate situation, and you also have to keep an eye on your resources because you have to stretch them for 3 rounds. The game does offer some difficulty settings and "auto-battle", however, I would not recommend doing it auto because it can put you behind much further than it would be possible manually (guess who replayed the same fight like 3 times because I gambled it).
Pros:
(+) I think the artwork in this game was fantastic, regardless of how anyone feels about the characters, these panels are really good, not just the design of the characters, but also the way the game presents the visual novel aspect of the experience. Especially the expressions on the faces and even just the coloring, visually it works very well.
(+) For me, the worst thing you can do with a visual novel is a ****** slide show, and I like that you avoided that. And I am not even talking about the stat management and the minigame, I am just talking about the formatting of the panels, the way you experience the narrative is not just a linear progression of text walls. To me a visual novel is not about a text, it's about the experience of how I consume that text, and for the most part, I think you got it right.
(+) As far as the whole "stat management", I mean I like that you went there, but I thought it was just okay, I rarely felt that I was making any hard choices, the whole system didn't feel that relevant, with the exception where it was between 2 characters, you could always use a bit more of "someone will not be happy" no matter what you do.
Feedback:
Checkpoints - most of the checkpoints in this game are at the start of the chapter, and I actually don't mind it, the problem is that this game has a lot of opportunities to accidentally reset it, maybe you were standing at the wrong spot and didn't know what the game wanted from you, maybe you lost the gamble on the minigame, maybe you picked the wrong line. It just feels unnecessary, I played some sections like 5 times, like I already read that dialogue once, I don't need to read it 5 times.
Minigame - honestly I thought it was mostly a waste of my time. The AI has the potential to hard carry the game for you or your opponent, there is always that chance it will get stuck for 45 seconds. One thing I will say, for the auto thing, it really should never be 20-60 or something, the manual game is usually 4 point difference but if the auto battle puts you 40 points behind you might as well reset the chapter.
Nitpicks - I already said this in the forum but this is a big one for me, why is there an extra animation at the house after you already selected the door, it just adds so much extra time for no reason, even kinda hurts the immersion. It was not always clear how exactly you interact with the events, sometimes you just stand next to people, and sometimes it's something else, felt like trial and error sometimes. I do think the game didn't have enough hard choices, I like the parts where I had to pick one of the 2 characters, but there wasn't enough there overall.
Overall Thoughts: 7/10
I like visual novels that try to do something different, and sadly it's actually the visual novel by itself that is the best part of this experience, the way you formatted the panels is better than most games that I play. The gameplay was not that intuitive, and the team management was okay, just not that deep. The artwork and the overall presentation of the panels were the highlights of the game for me, in terms of just aesthetics, it was almost perfect. I see this happen a lot, you make a game and you have a very solid core visual novel, but you add other creative elements and they dilute the experience with strange vibes instead of making it better, I felt the game was not a smooth experience overall.
Niche, obscure and underrated games:

Before I expand on this, I need to say this the combination of genre-mixing as well as the limited options in terms of Derby games are what lead this to land on the "Yes Recommend" line, despite all the negative vibes I am about to dump. Being honest, it's imperfect. I'm going to say all the bad stuff first and then try to end on a high note:
The first layer of gameplay is "sport management" by way of being a den mother/coach at the team's housing complex. It is only very loosely about actually coaching and managing the team, compared to my impressions based on the description. Six chapters into the game, I have not seen any direct, legitimate "management" duties expected from a game that calls it itself "sport management" . Largely, your management off the track is applied through some visual novel dialogue trees, and some light item hunting. That is, the extent of managing your team basically boils down into stealing items from players' rooms and tricking your team into co-operating.
I am sure that I have some control over the teams' attitudes, as they are at least tracked. But so help you if you deviate too much from the predestined path, the game will correct you; you are railroaded into the correct path so often that the game makes jokes about it. I am not sure if the issues there lie within the scope of my my expectations of visual novels in regards to player agency, or lie with the game's poor and scarce delivery of what at least "feel" like impactful choices. For disclosure, to my best recollection I have only played two visual novels , but I have played many "narrative games" , and even when those games funnel your choices back down, you feel like the there path was your own.
As far as the story-telling, big or small things just kind of happen and then and then the next Derby comes around. And being blunt, the story is a little inane, less due to the quirky setting and more due to the fact that nobody really reacts to anything that happens in the way that seems informed by human thoughts. They are trying to move along a VERY grand story arc, but don't have nearly enough game/scene time to get there naturally; the scenes do not give you time to breathe or to reflect on what is happening, and there is little sense of the passage of time.
As far as the Roller Derby gameplay goes, it can be a little frustrating but it is mostly enjoyable. Part of the frustration comes while you are getting used to the fact that you are not fully in control of the Jammer. You play the disembodied coach, managing your team's energy expenditure, defensive moves, and morale. It presents you as the Jammer, but she cannot be steered or otherwise directed besides telling her went to speed up or elbow the others, and that takes some getting used to. It can be particularly aggravating when there is a big pile of bodies blocking you and you can make no progress and keep getting bounced while the opposing Jammer is lapping you -- but I guess that's Derby, after all, so I have to let that slide, if I were to complain about that, it would be like complaining about getting tackled in Madden. It just takes some real getting used to, especially in regards to managing energy use. You will want to do a practice match at least once, since there are no manual saves and I truly feel like the single tutorial match at the end of the first chapter is simply not enough, and if you lose that it it's on your record.
So, besides just like completely changing the pace of the story which it's far too late to do, the biggest ??? about this game is that there is no manual save. Sometimes the missions are so vague or you click on the wrong thing with the controller or you can't highlight the room you need to or some other silly business and you fail a timed mission and you can't fix it. Well, that's kind of true -- due to the railroading, some scenes you are not allowed fail -- but other's it's really frustrating to be told to stop someone from doing something, and instead of chasing that person around the house to stop them, it wants you to go steal something again, and the timer goes off and you're toast. That's just really... kind of bad game design? No manual save in a game with branching paths also means that if you are replaying the game to see something different, and you accidentally fail the same mission the second time, you have to restart the game or at least restart the chapter again, instead of just reloading. This is all compounded by the awkward controls (in fairness I don't know how they could be better (maybe stick-cursor?)) and the small but present number of systems which the game just fails to explain (like Opportunity Score and how Moods work)
And this one is real simple.... There is a tutorial match on the main menu, but there are no Exhibition matches. You made this great little Derby sim, and there's no way to just PLAY derby against another one of the AI teams you put in the game? And even if you want to play the tutorial match again just to play some derby, you have to go through the tutorial dialogue again and play the same team again. This was a missed opportunity to add replay value and novelty to a game which already had the ingredients, and to appeal to someone who wants to play a simple little Derby game without the story.
So my high notes?
* The art is clearly on the Tumblry side but I love it.
* The characters are expressive, their personalities carry through in the stills in every instance.
* The Derby play is addictive, even when it is frustrating; once you grasp the system it becomes, and stays engaging.
* Derby is fairly realistic (albeit arcadey) representation of modern flat-track derby for those into the sport.
* If I had the option to do so, I would play the Derby after completing the story.
* It's a weird-as-hecc mix of genres, and while I clearly don't think every bit of it works, I think bold developers deserve credit for the risk.
* Devs are responsive in the forums, they care about this project.
* Fairly priced, or at least not terribly overpriced .
* Despite that big wall of text, I'm still playing, aren't I?

ENG: Mixed feelings about this Roller Drama, the strange case of a game that I enjoyed immensely throughout its development, but left me wanting a bit more, as well as a more "grandiose" ending.
The negative aspects I can point out are that the Roller Derby game is somewhat clunky, at times it's hard to understand or it feels like it depends a bit on luck during player collisions. Also, the story sometimes feels like parts are missing or skipped, which makes some sense since we are only the coach and not 100% involved in the players' lives, but it still feels odd when group issues are suddenly thrown in your face.
However, we must also highlight the good things about this Roller Drama. To begin with, the artistic design is unique, as are the interfaces, an aspect many games neglect but is crucial here. Gameplay is also quite unique, being largely a visual novel with moments of management as well as point & click, and although I don't think the game fully exploited these systems, they did give the game an overwhelming personality.
In summary, despite some disappointments, I enjoyed it a lot and I'm going to miss the girls.
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ESP: Sentimientos encontrados en este Roller Drama, el extraño caso de un juego que disfruté muchísimo en su desarrollo, pero que me ha dejado sabor a poco al final. Quería un poco más, así como un final más "grandioso".
Lo negativo que puedo señalar es que el juego del Roller Derby es algo clunky, por momentos no se entiende bien o se siente que depende un poco de la suerte en los choques de jugadoras. También, la historia por momentos se siente como si faltaran o se saltearan partes, lo cual tiene algo de sentido ya que nosotros solo somos la entrenadora y no estamos al 100% metidos en la vida de las jugadoras pero aun así queda raro que te tiren problemáticas de grupo a la cara.
Ahora bien, también hay que señalar las cosas buenas que tiene este Roller Drama, que no son pocas. Para empezar, el diseño artístico es único, como también lo son las interfaces, un aspecto que muchos juegos dejan descuidado y en este lo es todo. La jugabilidad, una rareza, siendo en gran parte una novela visual con momentos de management así como point & click, y aunque no creo que el juego haya exprimido al 100% dichos sistemas, sí dotaron al juego de una personalidad abrumadora.
Nota para los que lo jueguen en español: este juego tiene lenguaje inclusivo, así que si te irrita leer "amigues" o "todes", pasa de largo o jugalo en inglés.
En suma, a pesar de algunas decepciones, me gustó mucho y voy a extrañar a las chicas.

Awesome game! I love how the developers mixed the sport sessions with the visual novel part. The story is both intense and at the same time deep. It explore the humanity and the background of the girls of the team. A redemption road through the sport.
If you are looking for something different from the usual AAA titles, give this game a chance.

We have a quality game here, folks. Don't pass it up.
Mingle with your sports crew, then use their excitement to bust up the opposing team in roller derby, a sport I have watched once and yes, is real. Don't let them tell you otherwise. People do this at each other. Skates and all. And this group of fictional gals is, to my surprise, 1-to-1 exactly like every group of roller derby-ers I've ever met. How can this be? Isn't this game a game, and not reality? Well, I assume that people who play roller derby are, in fact, characters from fiction. That must be it. It's the only explanation for it. I don't know what else to tell you.
Play this game and find out for yourself.

TL;DR
8/10: I'll let the screenshot do the talking.
Overview
Has there ever been a game featuring roller derby in any form since the show Rollergames was on TV circa 1990? Ol' Il Pallino certainly doesn't recall seeing any such games. Want action? Want light adventure? Want great dialogue? Roller Drama has all of that, so good on the developers making a game who's title is a giveaway. (That normally only happens with simulation games.) The player assumes the role of the coach of a roller derby team consisting of five women with all sorts of interesting personality quirks, and has all sorts of between match drama to attend to. The drama often involves having to go places in the apartment building to find items, and sometimes avoid people along the way.
Then there's the matches, which are an action element combined with some light strategy. The player takes control of the jammer (the person who scores points in roller derby matches) and for maximum results, the player should order the wedge and blockers what sort of strategy to employ so that the player can hopefully outscore the opposition. Various cards can be unlocked throughout the game that aid the player in new abilities to help influence the outcome of matches. If that's not enough, it's also possible to give a speech to the players during one of the two intermission periods. Hopefully the player will have selected the correct choice of words, which will provide benefit to the team.
Graphics and sound
The graphics are of a whimsical nature. Not the most aesthetically pleasing, but one friend of ol' Il Pallino was impressed, and the graphics do fit the mood of the game.
The sounds all do their job. Nothing that stands out, but nothing game-breaking about the audio. The music could have been better, but ol' Il Pallino advises muting the music and instead playing the song Roller Girls by The Soviettes instead.
Positives and Negatives
Unique games are always good, and there's bound to be something for everyone given the stories, the characters, and the action sequence in the roller derby matches.
In case the player is some sort of n00b who cannot handle action, it's possible to auto-resolve each round in a match. (The result will most likely yield a positive outcome from the player who doesn't deserve to win.)
The idea of allowing for a pep talk during one of the two intermission periods is nice, only the player can forget about trying to accomplish multiple goals via a speech, because ol' Il Pallino failed. (Fortunately in the last game, ol' Il Pallino made the correct choices, and it raised the stamina levels of the players, and the other team had no chance in the final round.)
The adventure scenes could have featured a lot more than just "find the object(s) and avoid the person" objectives, but it's still variety to a game to keep the ideas fresh.
Conclusion
Like the song said: Watch out for the roller girls!
The honest word of Il Pallino... OR ELSE!
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Verily, dear friends (and foes), now lend thine ears to my voice,
For Roller Drama doth reveal a tale that makes the hearth rejoice.
Of qualities it boasts in spades, like stars that grace yon midnight sky,
With few mere trifling shades, too dim to catch a critic's eye.
In Joan Galliano's hand, akin to Arc of yore so grand,
Five skating sirens, wheels ablaze, are sparked by her command.
Each lass beset with trials dire, and tempers like a summer storm,
The Coach their spirits doth inspire, to grow and take a fuller form.
In realms where wheel meets written word, their artful dance unfolds,
As jammers, fierce, like falcons dive, and blockers lion-bold,
Their clash as if a vivid play, its stage the track, its script the score,
And art and sound, a melody, that leaves thee craving evermore.
But Joan herself seeks counsel from a head, both wise and dead,
A lad nam'd Will, who once wrote plays, now plays the shrink instead.
“Quick, think!”, he quips in iambic verse, sways Joan to reassess,
What Dick Dabrowski Dealer’s Go as gospel doth profess'd.
Ah, ponder well the Twins, those puppeteers far conceal'd,
Whose secret lies not in th' machine, but human sweat reveal'd.
And pretty boys and Chomsky's dames—each character a gem,
Inside this virtual expanse, they each deserve acclaim.
Bastet, the cat of mystic charm, can die and yet return anew,
A cycle mimicking the team, whose ups and downs are never few.
So in this wondrous house of dreams, where sport and drama coalesce,
They navigate life's tangled streams, in rollerblades and Derby dress.
Thus, Roller Drama dost command a rapturous applause,
A feat of indie alchemy, that gives my heart a pause.